Makin' memories of us

Right now I should be doing one of two things - cleaning the house OR participating in "family nap time." (I'll give you one guess which one I probably prefer more than the other!) Well, life is full of shoulda, coulda, wouldas and I'm happy to say that I've learned enough to this point to realize that being more up to date with this blog is becoming a very important priority for me to keep. Yes - it even trumps a measly little nap!

Friday evening right before I turned in for bed, D mentioned that he was waking up extra early on Saturday to meet up with Godfather E (that's Miss A's godfather to be precise!) for a running race. It was going to be happening at a local area park that Miss A really loves to visit so it was decided that Miss A and I would tag along to enjoy the park and cheer on all of the runners. As it turned out, D ended up running (unofficially) with Miss A in a full 5K and it was so much fun for all of us that we decided it was something that we all should do more often. I didn't run and sat on a bunch and crocheted some but I DID stand at the finish line and that was plenty excitement for me! I tried my best to get a decent picture of D running with Miss A but it was hard. People's "run/finish line" expressions can be pretty crazy looking when you snap them. But I guess I can understand that because running can be pretty grueling - which is why I don't do it myself...



After the race, we gave Miss A a little time for her own enjoyment on one of the many massive jungle gyms. She's still a little bit too young to enjoy most of what it offers but she did enjoy the different perspective she got as we walked her around and perched her places that were high up above the ground (well, high up for her at least).



After the playground, we went out for breakfast and then met up with Godfather E and Miss C at a local Pumpkin Harvest type event. There was music and games and face painting and hot cider and all kinds of fun stuff for families! Miss A very much enjoyed herself and spent a little time toddling around the haystack maze bit for people her size...



We, of course, forced her to do the most unenjoyable thing in the world for a toddler to endure - facepainting!!! It was only $1 and I told the lady to do whatever was the easiest, fastest, and least complicated design since Miss A was likely to not let us do it at all. True to my prediction, Miss A squirmed the entire time and every picture looked like we were subjecting her to some weird kind of torture.


Amazingly, the heart design that the girl managed to paint on didn't come out too bad...


And then, of course, because I just HAD TO get the quintessential "baby surrounded by big pumpkins" picture, we forced Miss A to pose with the pumpkins.


She was less than thrilled to oblige us and even though I am happy enough with what I got, none were really that great or good enough for me to want to print and save.

What WAS worth the memory making? Well... you'll see in the next post!

UPDATE: Mouse 'A'

Miss A was kind of enough to model her new hat for us!

Despite her odd expression and the strange angle that I took this picture at, she really doesn't mind wearing it all that much!


Haven't tried it out with her whole costume yet and not sure if I will until it's actually time for trick-or-treating so we're all going to have to wait until then to see it!

Hey, there! Hi, there! Ho, there!

Last year I couldn't decide what to do about Miss A and her participation in Halloween-type activities. On one hand, D and I really try to establish and maintain core Christian family and lifestyle values that are very much the determining factors of how we live and what we do. Though it seems as though the decision to participate in Halloween-type activities might not seem like a big deal, we looked at it from a different perspective. Did participating mean that we were condoning some of the dark themed elements of Halloween that were the polar opposite for what we strive to believe in? Did participating open us up to maybe falling into other things that we never believed in at first but would end up believing in by proxy and thereby compromising our personal values? We really weren't sure what to think. And since neither the church that we belong to nor the school system where I'm a faculty member condone the recognition of Halloween because of some of it's historical connections, we've been on the fence about what to do. Lots of other Christian families participate in some of the festivities of this season but how do we fit in with that?

After a lot of discussion with D, we ended up deciding that letting Miss A dress up and show off her costume to friends and family - whether it's during trick-or-treating or not - didn't necessarily make us believers of some of Halloween's dark themes and ideas. And thus we began the brainstorming of what kind of costume she could have!

We tossed around lots of ideas between last year and this year some of which were the following:

• Tootsie roll
• Princess Leia
• Yoda ( I know! This was Dave's choice over Princess Leia.)
• A peacock

Last year it ended up being decided that Miss A would be a penguin strictly because we happened to find a really cute pajama set/costume of penguin styling for really cheap! It was a big hit and I was so glad that was how it played itself out. This year though the major determining factor was this adorable outfit that Miss A got from Aunt H and Uncle J at her 1st birthday. It was a really cute Carter's skirt and top set of black/white/red color combo that looks exactly like something Minnie Mouse would wear! And since Miss A did very much enjoy the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, we decided to just go with it and make her a Minnie Mouse/Mouseketeer.

To complete Miss A's outfit the only thing that I really had to do was make her mouseketeer-style ears. And since I cannot break myself away from being practical, I decided to make them in the shape of a hat that she could definitely use throughout the cooler months/season. I started making this last week sometime but gave up part way through when I got to the ears because they just wouldn't work. The whole thing was almost "frogged" (as they say in needlework terms) because of how frustrated I became. Thankfully, last night I figured out how to get over the hurdles that I was coming up against and finished it in no time!!

Wish I could show you a picture of Miss A modeling it but she was sleeping and I didn't dare wake her. Perhaps it's better this way though because then I will be able to show you her completely dressed up. What do you think? The bow was quite possibly my most favorite part of all to construct. It's beautifully shiny and the widest satin ribbon that I could find! Perhaps I can use the excess to make a pretty rose for another headband...

What's wrong with this picture?

Oh I love Miss A like nobody's business but I don't know that my heart (or my sanity) could take more than one of her! Could you imagine four of her all at once? Here - let me help you...

I really hate good-byes

Today was a sick day for me! I wasn't feeling well anyway last evening and then I spent all last night and into the wee morning hours up dealing with Miss A. We think she's cutting some of her bottom teeth and though she's being a real trooper about it all, it's definitely cut into what was once a very nice sleep-all-the-way-through-the-night schedule for me.

So today I woke up at my usual 5:30AM (after I had gone to bed for good at 4:30AM - mind you!) and I knew almost immediately that I should probably stay home instead. I could barely focus my eyes much less walk in a straight line to get myself ready for work! I stayed up for a little while longer to get Miss up and ready to go with D and then I crawled back into bed and fell asleep for a solid six hours straight!!! It was WONDERFUL!!!
I'm still a little tired but I feel 110% better than I did this morning and I've managed to do three loads of laundry, clean up the kitchen, mop the laundry room (with the water that accidentally flooded it - UGH!) and also run the dog around the yard a little.

While I was outside enjoying what I'm sure will be one of the last warm-ish days of the season I noticed a smattering of dandelions in the yard and pulled my camera out to capture them. I know the end of summer has come already and we are officially in autumn now but I can't help but feel like it's only now that really we're finally having to say good-bye to it. So bittersweet...

See the heart in the center of the dandelion? I was able to find just the right angle to really get its shape just right! If that doesn't capture the essence of what summer really is, I don't know what would! I like this picture so much that I think I might get it printed and hang it someplace in the house! :)
Anyway...

Time to bring on the hot cider and sweaters and scarves and fleece jackets now!!! Always a bright side to things, right?